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Home » News » SoT TYA Initiative via The Monster Under the Bed
SoT TYA Initiative via The Monster Under the Bed
The School of Theatre at Florida State carries on TYA Initiative via The Monster Under the Bed
The School of Theatre at Florida State carries on its mission to engage the Tallahassee community with the TYA presentation of Kevin Dyer's The Monster Under the Bed.
Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) is an annual initiative of the FSU School of Theatre that concentrates on the theatrical "audiences of tomorrow" – our youth. Monster was the play chosen this season to engage students and families alike with its fun-filled, chaotic sense of adventure and heartfelt charm.
"There's a national trend right now with the TYA initiative that companies are doing shows with substance – we're treating kids with respect as audience members," FSU Associate Director of Patron Services Ashley Kerns remarked. She continued, "Just because they're younger than an adult doesn't mean they can't handle the content of a real show."
The ever-increasing significance of developing support for the arts must be integrated into the earlier years of our lives. "These shows could be seen as playing to the most important audience," FSU Assistant Professor in Performance and Director George McConnell said.
He explained that by implementing the unique experience of going to the theatre into the daily lives of children, like other places in the world, it can truly inspire change in their lifestyles and familial relationships.
"You can go to Disney World, you can go to the movies, and yes, you can go see a play – as a family you have had this experience together; therefore you've built a common ground," McConnell said. He expressed, "I'm really trying to direct this as an event – an experiential thing that happens."
This production will be performed for approximately 1,500 students in rising K-5th grades as part of the Plays on School Days series. The program is supported in part by the City of Tallahassee, Leon County, and the Council on Culture & Arts to provide participating Leon County schools' students with play guides and arts integrated workshops that meet Sunshine State Standards.
Kerns explained, "It's a way for us to reach out to young people in the community and introduce them to theatre for the first time, so they may come back year after year; it's also an opportunity for us to reach out from an educational perspective."
As a new addition to the initiative this year they're conducting a series of outreach workshops throughout the schools in Tallahassee – seven facilitators will be venturing into classrooms before and after the performance. They will be teaching students the basic conventions of theatre and involve them in activities revolving around the themes of the production.
These activities will also be made available for families who come to regularly scheduled evening and matinee performances. In addition, guests are invited to an ice cream party in the lobby after the show.
As the director, McConnell conveys that his main focus for this production is to enlighten our youth on how theatre works, "We're not trying to hide the mechanics of theatre, but we're actually trying to expose as many of them as possible because that's how you understand the magic of theatre."
The play, although set in a magical land in England, will be grounded in the Tallahassee community – where the actual theatrical event is being presented. There will be a video chase scene that will be projected onto the set during the play that is representative of Tallahassee.
"The students coming are from Tallahassee, so for them to see parts of Tallahassee and their own school in this representational space, brings the community in this way," McConnell said.
This TYA production also provides an opportunity for families to engage in healthy discussions "about home, about expressing your feelings and emotions, about using your imagination – all of these things about growing up and being comfortable in your own body are themes that provide conversation starters," Kerns added.
Show Times
The Monster Under the Bed runs November 15-18, 2012.
November 15 – 16, 2012 at 7:00 PM
November 17, 2012 at 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
To purchase tickets online visit http://tickets.fsu.edu, you can also visit the Ticket Office located in the Fine Arts Building, or to place orders on the phone call the office: (850) 644-6500 during their business hours (Tuesday-Saturday) between the hours of 11am-4pm.
Adult Ticket: $15.00
Senior Ticket (Age 62+): $15.00
Child/Student Ticket: $10.00
For additional media or information contact: David J. Valdez – (813) 624-3034 or djv11b@my.fsu.edu
Article Credits
Written by Contributing Writer: Ariel Backer
Photos – Jasmine Jordan (Celine) and Cory Escobar (Ben) in The Monster Under the Bed at the School of Theatre at Florida State
Photo Credit: David J. Valdez


ROME (Reuters) - Steel giant ArcelorMittal (MT.AS) said on Friday it would present improved proposals for its planned takeover of Italy's troubled steelmaker Ilva, as the new government questioned how it came to be awarded the deal.
"We have worked to increase the environmental and jobs plan, which will improve the original commitments and strengthen the environmental performance of Ilva and its support to local communities," it said in a statement.
"Once an agreement has been reached on the basis of this project, we are confident that all the parties, including the unions, will be satisfied and will be ready to conclude the deal quickly", it added.
The group said it had already promised to invest 4.2 billion euros in Ilva, including 1.2 billion to boost productivity and 1.15 billion to curb pollution. It has also told unions it plans to reduce the workforce in Ilva's main Taranto plant to around 7,600 from 10,900 now — a proposal the unions have rejected.
ArcelorMittal added that it had taken part in the government tender in a "clear and transparent manner".
It released its statement shortly after Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who also serves as industry and labor minister, questioned how the tender was awarded, calling the process a "mess".
Earlier this month, Di Maio asked Italy's anti-corruption unit to review the bidding process. "It has confirmed that our concerns about the Ilva tender procedure were well founded," the deputy prime minister told parliament on Friday.
Di Maio's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement had promised ahead of a March national election that it would shut down Ilva if it took power because of environmental concerns.
Former industry minister Carlo Calenda, who oversaw the original tender, rejected Di Maio's criticism.


Y'know how it goes with social media. One thing leads to another and suddenly you are Facebook Friends with someone you haven't seen or communicated with in forty-nine years.
Fast-forward to this year. I notice posts from Liz in our EW '69 group, that she had a new book coming out. I immediately looked up the books and discovered that since our graduation she has churned out forty something novels. I immediately set about ordering The Quarryman's Wife (Quercus Editions Ltd, 2018), and discovering that it belonged to a series called "The Weardale Sagas," I ordered also an earlier story, The Guardian Angel (Quercus Editions, 2018).
Historical romance is not ordinarily my cup of tea–I am more of a nonfiction reader–but these are charming. Best of all, Wife picks up exactly where Angel leaves off, so the pair provides a pleasure similar to a binge watch of some favored program from the BBC.
The protagonist of The Guardian Angel, Miss Alice Lee, confectioner extraordinaire, is the center of gravity around whose sweet shop the village of Stanhope appears to revolve. A good Methodist, she responds to her minister's prodding to write to the young "murderer," Zebediah Bailey, who was eight or nine years into a ten-year sentence for what sounds more like manslaughter. She sends the lad sweets, as well, and finally he writes back. The novel begins, therefore, as a sort of epistolary work.
Eventually, weathering the disapproval of many of the townsfolk (after all the time frame is mid-19th century), Miss Lee creates an ad-hoc family in the cramped living quarters behind the shop: herself sharing a room with the orphan girl Susan Wilson, whose kindly guardian had died, and Zeb Bailey, eventually sharing a room with his estranged father Mr. Bailey. Zeb gets a job at the local quarry where he meets Daniel Wearmouth; Dan's father Josiah, died in the same prison Zeb was in and Zeb had shown kindness toward him. The young deacon, Charles Westbrooke, estranged scion of a landed family in the upper Dales, and Arabella Almond, beautiful daughter of the quarry owners, complicate things between Dan and Susan. Other characters—townspeople, quarrymen, even deceased parents—wander in and out of the story.
The Quarryman's Wifeand out of the story.
The course of love is potholed and twisted by detours of course. Nearly everyone suffers personal, professional or romantic disaster—but the good news is that Miss Lee and Zeb Bailey fall in love—and finally admit it to each other. Trying to avoid spoilers here so I will leave it at that.
Wife follows the same cast and a handful of new eccentrics down their rough and rocky paths. The eponymous quarryman's wife who would seem to be the anchor of the storyline, Nell Almond, is another interesting, complex woman who taps into resources of character and experience that are surprisingly deep. In the end, however, there are several women—among them Alice Lee Bailey and Susan Wilson Wearmouth—who are also quarryman's wives, and the trials, hopes and choices all these women make are tightly interwoven.
Sadly, the futures of the denizens of Stanhope and the Dales is for the present unknowable. Apparently, Liz's editor wants a more modern timeframe for the next book. Ah well.
A native of County Durham, Liz's knowledge of the area and deep affection for its landscape and history are evident. She describes the ways that homes are tucked into hillsides to withstand fierce winds and how water seeps through the front door in a storm, wetting the rugs of a home located in a bottom not far from the river. Small cottages are contrasted to the large homes of the wealthy and the social elites. Different villages and towns are individualized in character and the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution shape the stories in myriad subtle ways.
Elizabeth Gill is a very good writer!


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Zeus malware: its history and how it works
Zeus is a type of malware that can infect your devices, use them as part of a botnet, and spy on your data. This malicious software often targets Windows users, but new variants are emerging which can also infect mobile operating systems.
Malcolm Higgins
What is Zeus malware?
Zeus, also known as Zbot, is a kind of malware, referred to as a trojan, which can secretly install itself on your device. Like most of the worst computer viruses, it can steal your data, empty your bank account, and launch more attacks. Once the infection has occurred and it's active on your computer, it will usually do one of two things.
It can add your device to a Zeus botnet; a network of infected devices that all answer to one command center. You might never realize that your device is being used in Zeus botnets, but hackers can leverage this army of compromised computers and smartphones to launch DDoS attacks on other targets.
Alternatively, the Zeus trojan can spy on you directly, stealing sensitive information from your device and feeding it back to a cybercriminal. Again, its presence on your device may be almost unnoticeable, so you might not realize you're being targeted until it's too late.
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Zeus first appeared around 2007. Like many forms of malware the Zbot was initially used to steal banking information. However, in 2011, the source code was released to the public, allowing multiple new variants to be created. The original code has apparently been retired, but new generations of Zeus trojans are still active today.
ZeuS 2.0.8.9 (as it was originally known) comes in many forms. In fact, there are hundreds of documented versions of the ZeuS trojan, although most of them serve a similar function; a Zbot is meant to steal data and money, or build a botnet.
If it's targeting your data, a Zeus trojan will usually attempt to gather the following:
Keystroke data
POP and FTP account credentials
Cookies and tracker information
HTTP form data
In the case of botnet builders, the process will be less focused on stealing the specific data of a user. Instead, the device will be installed with hidden software, allowing it to be controlled remotely by the hacker.
At a later date, it can then be used, along with the rest of the botnet, to flood servers and online systems with artificially-inflated traffic. This can force websites offline and make networks inaccessible, in what's known as a distributed denial of service (DDos) attack.
Types of Zeus malware
While the original Zeus malware is no longer active, there are numerous copycats that use the same or similar code. Here are just a few Zeus malware examples.
SpyEye. This is a particularly nasty malware that is thought to use code from the original Zeus virus. It usually targets your browser, recording your keystrokes until it manages to get the login credentials for your accounts. It can even initiate transactions while you're logged into an online banking portal, sending funds directly to the hacker.
Gameover ZeuS. Originally created by Russian hackers, Gameover ZeuS focuses on conscripting devices into a botnet. What sets it apart from similar variants is its use of an encrypted peer-to-peer communication system, making it much harder for the authorities to track down whoever is operating it.
Ice IX. Another descendent of Zeus is Ice IX, a botnet system partially built on the code of the original malware. It's a multifunctional tool, and can be used both to manipulate online financial transitions, and to launch botnet-driven attacks.
The history of Zeus
So what do we know about the history of Zeus? And where did it originate?
Where did Zeus come from?
It was first identified in 2007, when it was used by hackers to target the United States Department of Transformation.
Who created the Zeus virus? Like all malware it's impossible to say for sure where it originated, but some law enforcement agencies have claimed that it was created in Eastern Europe.
What we know for certain is that in 2011, the creator of the original Zbot made the malware code public — or had it leaked unintentionally — allowing it to spread faster than ever.
The creator may also have sold his original code to the criminals who invented SpyEye, although in 2013 the creator of SpyEye was arrested, and subsequently pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud.
The biggest attacks
Zeus and its variants have been successfully used to target huge organizations like Amazon, Bank of America, and even NASA. At its height, the original Zeus virus was infecting several million devices a year.
While it's been used very effectively against larger corporations and government bodies, it has also been deployed against individuals, roping the devices of unsuspecting internet users into botnets.
How does Zeus malware work?
So how does the Zeus virus work? First, it needs to get onto your device, which it can do using one of two main tactics.
The malware can be installed through phishing emails. In this case, the hacker sends an email containing a link that will trigger the malware infection. They will try to convince the receiver to click the link, possibly by pretending to be a recognised sender like a bank or even a coworker.
Alternatively, the malware can be delivered through the code in a website; a method known as a drive-by download. The hacker might set up a fake website to do this, but they can also try to infiltrate real websites, turning them into malware distributors.
Once the infection has occurred, the malware can be operated remotely from the hacker's command and control center.
How to tell if your computer is infected with Zeus malware
One thing that makes the Zeus virus effective is how hard it is to tell if your device is infected. However, there are several indicators that you might be dealing with malware.
Your device slows down suddenly. A noticeable drop in operating speed may occur when malware is at work behind the scenes.
You notice unusual banking activity. If you regularly use an online banking portal on your computer, and you notice unusual transactions on your account, that could be a sign that you're dealing with a Zeus virus.
An unknown program appears on your system. If you see a program running on your system, and you don't remember downloading it, it could be malware. This is even more true if it's continually using a lot of processing power.
Your device is overheating. Because the malware may be carrying out extensive activity while you're using your device, you may notice the hardware overheating. If this starts to happen suddenly, it could be a red flag.
How to prevent Zeus attacks
The best way to prevent Zeus attacks is to avoid malware infection. Here are three ways to do that.
Be extra vigilant around unexpected emails. If you receive a message urging you to click a link, think twice before doing so. Do you know the sender well? Does anything else about the email look unusual? Look out for spelling errors or strange sender email addresses. Phishing attacks are one of the easiest ways for hackers to spread Zeus malware.
Don't click on internet ads. While most online ads are just annoying, some can be dangerous. Malicious advertising, or malvertising, is another way to spread malware. Hackers create adverts that look genuine, and then infect anyone who clicks on them. Some can even trigger a virus download the moment you load a page on which they appear. That's why using an ad blocker is also a good idea; if your browser doesn't show you adds, you're less likely to see a Zeus virus pop up.
Use Threat Protection. To improve your defenses against malware, start using NordVPN's Threat Protection feature. This will help you avoid websites that are known to be linked to malware, and will make it less likely that you'll stumble onto a hacker's page. It will also help you to identify malware-ridden files.
Take your security into your own hands.
Malcolm is a content writer specializing in cybersecurity and tech news. With a background in journalism and a passion for digital privacy, he hopes his work will empower people to control their own data.
What is a remote access trojan? Everything you need to know about RATs
Aurelija Einorytė
OSI model: 7 OSI layers explained

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Urban League Auxiliaries
ULGATL Young Professionals
The Urban League of Greater Atlanta Young Professionals (ULGA-YP) is an auxiliary of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta and is comprised of young professionals across metro Atlanta who are dedicated to serving their local communities through social and community activism.
The mission of this organization, based on the strategic imperatives of the National Urban League and the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, is simple—to provide empowerment in five core areas:
Education empowerment to ensure the youth in our communities are well-educated and prepared for economic self-reliance;
Economic empowerment for those struggling to attain economic self-sufficiency;
Health and quality of life empowerment to help eliminate health disparities;
Civic engagement and leadership empowerment to encourage all people to take an active role in influencing public policy and leadership in their communities; and
Civil rights and racial justice empowerment to promote and ensure civil rights in all aspects of American society.
Along with tremendous opportunities to network and give service to the community with some of metro Atlanta's premiere up-and-coming and established young professionals, our members support the mission and work of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta serving as volunteers, presenters, instructors, grant writiers, committee members and mentors for its education, workforce/career development, job skills training, housing, entrepreneurship, advocacy, youth development programs and special events. AULYP members also enjoy free personal and professional development workshops, discounts on the products and services of local business partners of the AULYP, and opportunities to expose their businesses and our members and partners.
To become a member and learn more about our organization and our members, please visit our website: www.aulyp.net.
Ciji Tatum
President – ULGATL Young Professionals
Urban League of Greater Atlanta Guild
The Atlanta Urban League Guild (AULG) is comprised of citizens who want to get involved and give back to their communities by contributing their time, skills and experience to the organization. AULG focuses its efforts on community service, fundraising, and leadership development.
The first Urban League Guild was established in 1942 by Mrs. Mollie Moon, to help raise revenue for the National Urban League. The former Executive Director of the Atlanta Urban League, Grace Towns-Hamilton organized the Atlanta Urban League Guild Chapter on October 16, 1949. The Guild is an auxiliary of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, and is a member of the National Council of Urban League Guilds.
The Mission of the Atlanta Urban League Guild is to stimulate, develop and promote volunteer participation and leadership consistent with the goals and objectives of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta. The focus of AULG's volunteer efforts include:
Fundraising to Support Urban League of Greater Atlanta Programs/Initiatives
Health Screenings & Referrals
The Guild meets the fourth Wednesday of each month. The Urban League of Greater Atlanta invites you to help us make an impact on our community by becoming a member of the Guild by visiting our website: www.ulgaguild.org.
Herman Andrews
President – ULGATL Guild


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Berlin British School
BBS Vision & Mission
Why BBS?
Bilingual Ersatzschule
Admission & School Fees
Extra Activities
School- & Sport Uniform
As part of our International Baccalaureate Diploma preparation and pre-university induction, the school sends Year 11 and 13 students on a work placement for three weeks at the end of the Summer Term.
Work experience is intended to give students an insight into the job environment. It supports the application and consolidation of knowledge gained in school lessons through personal experience and actions. It also begins to give the students a foundation of the world of work and commerce.
The work experience programme helps students find out more about their professional plans and personal strengths, and the skills employers are looking for. It also helps the students to develop self-discipline and a sense of responsibility. They have the opportunity to develop new skills and acquire more self-confidence and orientation towards their professional careers.
Our aim is to encourage students to think about a placement that matches their interests and personal abilities. The school supports the students during the process of considering, applying and completing the work placement. Over the years we have established links with companies and institutions in the Berlin area, so that we have been able to place students very successfully in international companies, the media and academic institutions.
© 2019 Berlin British School, all rights reserved
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NewsThe main specifications of the ASUS ROG Phone 3...
The main specifications of the ASUS ROG Phone 3 were revealed by TENAA
The Chinese website TENAA seems to not only confirm the existence of the device but also to give even more details of some of The main specifications of the ASUS ROG Phone 3.
There have already been some indications that the ROG Phone 3 is on its way to the market, and the latest leak made by the Chinese website TENAA seems not only to confirm the existence of the device but also to give even more details of some of its main specifications.
The first leaks seen from the phone were a performance test by GeekBench and the second in a WiFi certification of the device, and now with the leak from TENAA it is almost confirmed, now lacking design and price information.
The main specifications of the ASUS ROG Phone 3 (Leaked specifications)
According to TENAA, the ROG Phone 3 will have a 6.59 "inch screen in conjunction with a 5800 mAh battery with 30W fast charge, no doubt the screen will be at least 120Hz, but we believe that a higher refresh rate can give guys on the device.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU – the most powerful of the company at the moment, should also have its faces – it has 128GB of ROM and WiFi 6 dual-band, which should guarantee a stable connection with low latency to play online with the device.
In addition to the screen and battery, it appears that the new 5G connectivity will also be supported by SA and NSA support. Another information regarding connectivity is that it must come with two SIM card slots, enabling the user to use the chips at the same time on the phone.
Its dimensions are 171mm high, 78mm wide and 9.85mm thick, without a doubt a cell phone that you will feel when carrying in your pocket, just like it was with the last two generations of the device.
Date and price still unavailable
Unfortunately we still cannot tell you when the device will reach the consumer, the company has not released any details about the device and all we have is information leaked from other sources.
When we talk about price, we believe that it should reach the same price range as the previous one, in the range of USD $ 900 to USD $ 1000, undoubtedly competing in the category of cell phones dedicated to the gamer audience.
Source: GizChina
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TENAA
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Ever since the release of the first iPhone, Apple Inc. has been shocking the world year after year. Hardly anyone would argue that iPhones revolutionized the mobile phone market back in 2007. Some experts say that the age of Apple's innovation stopped when Steve Jobs passed away, and since then sales have been gradually dropping. Well, let's try to get into the issue in greater detail.
What has happened to the digital world?
In the USA and other well-developed countries, people do not tend to show off their gadgets. When it comes to relatively poor states, there occurred sort of a trend 'if you own an iPhone then you are successful and wealthy.' The popularity of this device made thousands of people lose their minds. Well, it was understandable about 5-8 years ago. Nowadays, however, more and more people stop obsessing with gadgets and do not upgrade them every year like they used to.
The present-day market of mobile phones is somewhat stabilized, and it is hard to impress consumers. Of course, the introduction of such things as Siri, TouchID, FaceID were innovative, but they have become trivial. Almost every Chinese telephone that costs four times less than a brand new iPhone has Google Assistant, Fingerprint recognition, and something similar to FaceID.
There are things that Apple itself has to introduce after its rivals. These include dual SIM card support, wireless chargers, etc. Every 'innovation' that Apple creates nowadays seems to be made just for the sake of innovation, rather than usability. People have become familiar with all these cool features, and they don't want them anymore. Nobody is impressed by your having a brand new iPhone, and people tend to upgrade more rarely. The situation is worsened even more by the fact that you cannot find the Apple sales number anymore, the company simply gave up on publishing all those figures.
In addition, many consumers prefer the stability of the operating system and battery life to all those brand new features Apple tries to impress us with. Some experts even argue that the situation Apple is currently in is somewhat similar to what Intel experienced in 2012, which was mainly focused on producing computer chips back then and experienced a sales drop. As you may know, Apple positions its telephones as the main product, while other cool accessories are either less popular or too expensive. While it is next to impossible to make consumers impressed by new iPhones, maybe it is worth developing other products that will bring revenue later.
What influences the drop in sales?
The point is, however, that the drop in sales rates is not Apple's fault only. The whole smartphones market seems to be stagnating, as it may have reached its peak and in order to boost it again, we need to wait for another technological breakthrough.
On the other hand, there is an opinion that iPhone sales are still high, even though the price of one unit starts from 800 USD. On the same note, there is a complaint that the board is too focused on what's going on now, rather than focusing on the long-term perspectives. Probably, it should develop its presence on the laptop market with its MacBooks.
It is no surprise that Apple's notebooks and computers are popular among designers, video makers, programmers, students, business people, etc. The company's desire introduced by Steve Jobs to make gadgets accessible and understandable is something that surprises me the most. Even my grandma can handle a Mac to do simple tasks. Their displays are simply outstanding and valued by professionals who have to deal with graphics. Even those who are looking for custom thesis writing services would probably prefer a Mac over any other laptop. It's battery, simplicity, speed, and stability are all those aspects that contribute to its popularity.
What the company should do, in my opinion, is to stop 'inventing' something for the sake of 'inventing.' Probably, Apple could focus more on the cheaper segment and reach a wider consumer base with less expensive iPhone alternatives. Moreover, it definitely should develop its SmartWatch and other gadgets in addition to making its notebooks less expensive. Of course, many people are ready to pay 1200 USD for a laptop just because it's Apple, though, many consumers don't want to buy such gadget when its characteristics are similar to those of a 500$ alternative, especially if they spent their last penny on thesis writing help.
Of course, the situation with Apple is quite disturbing for many of its fans. Though, we should all remember that the issue is partially caused by the market trends and not by the company itself. Though, if the company wants to survive, it should definitely work out a strategy that will work.
No matter what people might have told about the company in the past, its market capitalization grows steadily, year after year. As it is evident from the history of stock sales, every drop is followed by a significant rise. Apple has managed to become the first company in the world that is worth one trillion dollars followed by a 30% drop, maybe there is another increase ahead?


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CHRISTOPHER RUDD LAB
Overview of research
Lab Photos (in progress!)
Uncovering mechanisms of T-cell co-stimulation/inhibition. Co-receptors such as CD28, CTLA-4, ICOS and PD-1 play key roles in modifying signals from the antigen-receptor complex in various disease contexts. My laboratory has played a leading international role in uncovering the mechanisms by which these co-receptors signal to modify T-cell responses. We first defined CD28, ICOS and CTLA-4 binding to lipid kinase phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3K) and the adaptor Grb2 which is now widely quoted in textbooks and is responsible for CD28 activation of the inflammatory NFκb pathway in T-cells. A major project in the lab is to uncover the signaling pathways linked to CD28 that mediate its role in the recovery of immunity against cancer in response to immune check-point blockade (ICB). Recently, we have uncovered a novel function for CD28 in the trafficking of T-cells to sites of infection (paper in preparation).
GSK-3 and co-receptor blockade in immunotherapy. The past 15 years has witnessed a revolution in the application of immunotherapy for the treatment of various human cancers. Immune check-point blockade (ICB) uses monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to block the binding of inhibitory receptors (IRs) to their natural ligands. CTLA-4 and PD-1 negatively regulate T-cell response. We have defined pathways that up-regulate CTLA-4 expression on T-cells and have reported a novel function for CTLA-4 where it up-regulates T-cell motility and over-riding the T cell receptor (TCR)-induced stop signal required for stable conjugate formation between T cells and antigen-presenting cells. Our model (reverse stop signal model) provides a new way of viewing how CTLA-4 modulates the threshold of signaling and autoimmunity. We are exploring how intervention in these functions can be applied to anti-tumor immunity. In one model, reverse stop signaling increases the efficacy of immunotherapy by limiting the contact times of CD8+ CTLs with tumors and thereby increasing the frequency of CTL-tumor interactions for more effective stochastic killing.
Our laboratory has uncovered the central signaling pathway controls PD-1 expression in T-cells. We have showne that the serine/threonine kinase glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) that controls PD-1 transcription and have developed a small molecule inhibitor (SMI) approach to down-regulate PD-1 expression. GSK-3 blockade is effective as anti-PD-1 in mouse models of cancer and can synergize with anti-PD-1 to inhibit the growth of ICB resistant solid tumors. Using CyTOF, projects have identified novel populations of tumor infiltrating T-cells (TILs) that arise due to combination therapy. We are presently developing a consortium to apply these findings to the clinic in the immune therapeutic treatment of patients with cancer.
Defining Adaptor Function in T-cell immunity. Our laboratory identified novel adaptors: adhesion and degranulation-promoting adaptor protein (ADAP; encoded by FYB) and src kinase-associated phosphoprotein of 55 kDa (SKAP-55; encoded by SKAP1) that are responsible for controlling T-cell adhesion and motility. T-cell motility is an important feature of the immune system that is needed for the movement of T-cells to sites of inflammation/infection, lymph nodes and for interactions with antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs). We showed that the two adaptors are expressed primarily in T-cells where SKAP1 controls a pathway involving Rap1 and RapL and their binding to the cytoplasmic tail for LFA-1 activation. In additional studies, we have shown that different receptors such as LFA-1 can alter the composition of the LAT signalosome by displacing the GADs-SLP-76 module for T-cell motility. The identification of these signaling pathways represents a significant advance in defining the TCR 'inside-out' pathways needed for the 'stop-signal' that reduces motility for T-cell interactions with DCs. Projects involve assessing the composition of the pathways and to identify connections between mediators/interactions that regulate specific immune functions.
Defining the function of immune-specific adaptors in T-cell function and cancer. We showed that Skap-1-/- deficient mice are resistant to the induction of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), while a mutant of ADAP blocks the transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) by impairing cell-to-cell transmission and viral spread. Our focus now is on immunotherapy and cancer where projects involve using retrovirus' encoding specific mutants of RapL, SKAP1 and SLP-76 to enhance the localization and amplitude of in vivo responses against different cancer types that include melanoma and lymphomas.
Defining the function of the SLP-76-RanGAP1 regulation of the nuclear pore complex in T-cells. We uncovered a novel pathway involving the adaptor SLP-76 binding to RanGAP1 of the cytoplasmic filaments of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). The interaction controls >50% of T-cell receptor-induced transcription factor (NFAT-c1 and Rel-A) entry into the nucleus of T-cells. A single mutation in a single adaptor that disrupts NPC transport can inhibit T-cell responses by >80%. Projects involve uncovering the mechanisms by which SLP-76 activates RanGAP1, the nature of transcription factors affected by this pathway and its impact of the nature of the immune response to foreign antigen and cancer neoantigens.
© 2018 Martin Davis. 12 Pike St, New York, NY 10002


GLISA is an international gay and lesbian sport association. The focus of GLISA is developing gay and lesbian sport worldwide. GLISA does this through sanctioning world and continental games, creating a global calendar of GLBT sport events, fostering the creation of new GLBT federations, clubs and teams, supporting existing GLBT sport organizations, working in partnership with other sport organization to pursue this mandate, and providing the financial framework to support GLISA's global efforts.
GLISA sanctioned Rendez-Vous Montréal 2006 for its 1st World Outgames in 2006.
The vision describes where GLISA would like to be in ten years.
GLISA is an inclusive, globally recognized, integrated, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered association that celebrates, supports and promotes our culture through sport.
This describes why GLISA exists and who GLISA serves.
GLISA is a membership-based, democratic, international association of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered sports organizations from around the world. GLISA's purpose is to ensure a safe place for GLBT athletes to play sports. GLISA do this by providing quality services to our members, nurturing the growth of the GLBT sports movement, and promoting participation in GLBT sports events.
These are the broad themes of what GLISA do to carry out GLISA's mission and achieve its vision.
GLISA provides a solid base of financial, administrative, professional and technical support to ensure the success of its activities and events.
What GLISA's results look like: these form the basis for performance measures and benchmarks.
Successful partnerships with mainstream sports organizations.
To learn more about GLISA, visit their website at www.glisa.org.


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Home News World News
Sri Lankan minister who drunk sorcerer's anti-Covid potion catches virus
Shockingly, doctors have said there is no scientific basis for the syrup, reportedly containing honey and nutmeg, as a remedy for coronavirus.
by Henry Goodwin
in World News
Sri Lanka's health minister, who has faced criticism for consuming and endorsing a herbal syrup made by a sorcerer, has tested positive for Covid-19.
A Health Ministry official confirmed on Saturday that Pavithra Wanniarachchi is the highest-ranking official to be infected with the virus. She and her immediate contacts have been asked to self-quarantine.
Doctors have said there is no scientific basis for the syrup, reportedly containing honey and nutmeg, as a remedy for coronavirus.
Thousands of people formed long queues in the village of Bandara, north-east of the capital, Colombo, in December to obtain the syrup, just days after Ms Wanniarachchi and several other government officials publicly consumed it.
The maker of the potion said he got the formula through his divine powers.
In local media, he claimed the Hindu goddess Kaali appeared to him in a dream and gave him the recipe to save humanity from coronavirus.
Sri Lankans are used to taking both regular medicine and indigenous alternative drugs to cure ailments.
Watch: Church funeral with swastika-draped coffin and fascist salute
Irish politicians actually held accountable for lockdown-busting golf dinner
Macron says he 'really wants to piss off' the unvaccinated
Brits sent home by Austria after failing to meet Covid rules
On Friday, Sri Lanka approved the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19 amid warnings from doctors that frontline health workers should be quickly inoculated to prevent the medical system from collapsing. The vaccine was the first to be approved for emergency use in Sri Lanka.
The Health Ministry said vaccination will begin by mid-February.
Sri Lanka witnessed a fresh outbreak of the disease in October when two clusters — one centred on a garment factory and the other on the main fish market – emerged in Colombo and its suburbs.
The country has reported 52,964 cases, with 278 deaths.
Related: Brexit leaves British wine drinkers facing higher costs and less choice
A foodie weekend in Cornwall: Watergate Bay review
Watch: This man cave has just been crowned Games Room of the Year 2017
Tory MP accused of faking constituency visits – after using same photo three times
14-y-o girl caught up in Manchester bombing has written song after being diagnosed with PTSD
Police hunting abusive London thug who attacked a paramedic – while he was saving a teenage girl
Scientists reveal the best way to protect your children from asthma
Plants in the Arctic 'growing taller due to climate change'
Forget Boris Bikes – Sadiq Cycles are about to hit the streets of London
First look: The world's greenest airport
Taking Advantage of Small Business Trends in the UK


In the fourth class of our "Essentials of Cooking" series, we will cover the use of acid in cooking delicious cuisine. From citrus to vinegar to cultured products, acids are often the number one component home cooks lack knowledge of that can bring flavor to the next level. Cook and farmer Pat Battle along with author and cook Meredith Leigh will cover the science of acids in food, sources for healthful acids in cooking, and practical applications for the home cook.


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State Exclusion Rate Tables
Percentages of Students in States and Jurisdictions Identified, Excluded, and Assessed in Science
NAEP has always endeavored to assess all students selected as a part of its sampling process, including students who are classified by their schools as students with disabilities (SD) and/or as English language learners (ELL). The decision to exclude any of these students is made by school personnel. School personnel are encouraged to use inclusion criteria provided by NAEP and may discuss their inclusion decisions with NAEP field staff. Some students may participate with testing accommodations.
Read more about the NAEP inclusion policy.
SD and ELL
SD Only
ELL Only
Percentages of all public school students at grade 4 identified as students with disabilities and/or English language learners, excluded, and assessed in science, by state: 2000 and 2005
State/jurisdiction
Assessed without accom-
modations
Assessed with accom-
Nation (public)
Other jurisdiction
DoDEA1
— Not available. The jurisdiction did not participate.
1 Department of Defense Education Activity. Before 2005, DoDEA overseas and domestic schools were separate jurisdictions in NAEP. For this table, 2000 data presented here were recalculated for comparability.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
Percentages of all students identified as students with disabilities and English language learners, excluded, and assessed, when accommodations were not permitted, grade 8 public schools: By state, 1998
1 Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools). Before 2005, DoDEA overseas and domestic schools were separate jurisdictions in NAEP. Pre-2005 data presented here were recalculated for comparability.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. States that did not participate in the 1998 reading assessment are not included in the table.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1998 Reading Assessment.
Percentages of all students identified as students with disabilities, excluded, and assessed, when accommodations were not permitted, grade 8 public schools: By state,1998
Percentages of all students identified as English language learners, excluded, and assessed, when accommodations were not permitted, grade 8 public schools: By state,1998
# The estimate rounds to zero.
National Assessment of Educational Progress, National Assessment Governing Board
National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences


BLACK Friday is just around the corner, and Nasty Gal have kicked-off their sales early.
There is now a massive 50% off everything on the site, meaning you could score a killer Christmas party outfit or your new work wardrobe for a fraction of the original price.
What should I snap up?
Coats and jackets - There is a massive selection on the Nasty Gal site, from leather jackets with bold statement prints to furry coats, they have it all.
Statement tees - Nasty Gal's slogan tees are iconic and they come in a huge range of options. They have plenty of in-your-face quotes which are very relateable.
If you love the look of Nike trainers but can't quite justify the price, Nasty Gal have some amazing similar ones. They also have certain pains that look like Yeezys and even Balenciagas.
The variety of dresses is so wide, you can grab something for an awards ceremony, a new work dress, and a casual number perfect for brunch all in one spot.
How much is Nasty Gal delivery?
Nasty Gal delivery isn't the cheapest, however, they do often offer discount codes.
Their standard delivery which takes up to five working days is £3.99 per order, and is their cheapest option.
If you're impatient and want next day delivery, it's £5.99.
However, fans of Nasty Gal will find it very interesting that Nasty Gal VIP exists.
For only £9.99 for the entire year, members of NGVIP can benefit from unlimited next day delivery and free returns.


I created this flower based on freebies I found at Shabby Princess Scrapbooking. It is one of a series of upscale YW scrap elements I am creating for the Young Women portion of this website.
This item features cloth flowers in the value colors, with text elements taken from the YW theme.
See all the LDS Digital Scrapbooking elements.
If you make something awesome with these elements, please share it with others for inspiration by clicking "upload a jpg" above or describe it in a comment bleow.


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Europe and Middle East, Hotel Reviews, Interlaken, Newsletter, Switzerland
Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel
Out on the terrace of the Quranta Uno, the Italian fine dining restaurant of Interlaken's famous Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel, Milanese head chef Ricardo is waxing lyrical about his new menu.
"It is about good ingredients, simply cooked." He pleads. " my Saltimbocca Brescia for example, my mother's recipe."
Well, you won't hear me complaining when it comes to Italian mothers.
The terrace is at the front of the hotel, the perfect place to gaze out at Interlaken's Bernese Highlands. The triple peaks of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau massif stands silently over the town as it has done for millennia.
I'm looking forward to a much closer visit tomorrow when I'm taking the Jungfrau Railway up to the Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe before returning to my drive around the Grand Tour of Switzerland.
But for now, in the warm and welcoming embrace of the Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel, fine Italian food is the order of the day.
The Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel has long been the Dame of Interlaken ever since she opened her doors over 150 years ago as a pension in 1856.
These days she is seen as one of the standard bearers of Swiss five star luxury hospitality, with 224 rooms, two restaurants and a state of the art 5,500 square metre spa.
The hotel is a very grand building, rightfully dominating the centre of Interlaken. I remember coming here once on Swiss Independence Day, when a full orchestra was set up on the front terrace, playing their hearts out as hand gliders decked in national flags landed in the park opposite.
Happy days.
This is a huge building, with rooms above both wings. Spaciously classic spaces with lush carpets and comfy settees. The bathroom a study in marble and high end toiletries.
But the new kid on the block, the spa, with its indoor swimming pool, outdoor brine bath, whirlpools, saunas, and SENSAI SELECT range of therapies is an impressive showpiece in itself.
Back in Quranta Uno, after a superb antipasti buffet I devour a Ricardo mother- inspired linguine with basil pesto, fine beans, toasted pine nuts & Pecorino.
Of course, washing it down with a decadent vino nobile di Montepulciano makes it all the more memorable.
My dining partner is seduced by the legend behind Ricardo's Saltimbocca Brescia and I am glad to reveal, it lives up to the billing. His mother would be so proud.
Interlaken is a perfect base to explore the Bernese Oberland and of course the Jungfraujoch. It is an elegant town squeezed, as the name suggests between two lakes, but it has the added bonus of excellent connections for the Jungfrau Railway.
The Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel is an ideal example of Swiss luxury hospitality. Well let's face it, she has had over 150 years to perfect it.
Tell me more about the Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel in Interlaken
Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken
Double room including breakfast: from 479.00 CHF per night for two
Höheweg 41
CH-3800 Interlaken
Switzerland Tourism
For more information on Switzerland visit www.MySwitzerland.com or call our Switzerland Travel Centre on the International freephone 00800 100 200 30 or e-mail, for information info.uk@myswitzerland.com; for packages, trains and air tickets sales@stc.co.uk.
Jungfrau Railways travel to the unique natural wonders in the UNESCO World Heritage of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch as well as uniting seven spectacular mountain transport systems under one management.
Stellar Line Up for Hogmanay Street Party
Avli Lounge Apartments. 5 Star Cretan hospitality.
Icehotel celebrates 30 years with new art


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At One Month, ICD-10 Seems To Be Going Smoothly
Everything seems fine on the surface with ICD-10 thus far, but is there a false sense of security?
Now that the ICD-10 coding system has been up and running for just over a month, we are starting to see some reports back from the trenches. And those reports are surprisingly good.
The sky did not fall in and the world did not come to an end. For most practices, denials did not go through the roof. Robert Tennant, senior policy advisor for the Medical Group Management Association, was at a Town Hall meeting a couple of weeks ago with Humana and Emdeon (a medical claims clearinghouse) and both organizations reported that they were seeing no great increase in denials and no big drop in the number of claims submitted.
As most experts anticipated, the key was preparation. Practices that had updated their EHRs as well as learned and tested the new codes are getting along just fine. Gary Hirshfield, an ophthalmologist in Queens, N.Y. said that the ICD-10 transition "is not effecting me one iota. Zero stress." He credits the EHR software he transitioned to a couple of years ago for taking the heat off. His system is practically fool proof, he said. "It talks you through it." Of course, Hirshfield, a self-described "terrible complainer about software," doesn't totally trust the system. He has between four and five closely spaced pages of the most commonly used codes, and he spot checks them. "If you use more general codes, you run the risk of having claims rejected," he explained.
Bonnie Dominick, billing manager at Associated Family Practice in Philadelphia, is experiencing the same success. "We haven't had a single denial yet," she said. Dominick credits her ICD-10 success to thorough preparation. She learned her codes well and made sure her doctors did.
Not every practice is having the same good experience, of course. "I know someone in another practice who is having a very hard time. She's an extremely organized, well-trained person, but she doesn't have an EHR," said Dominick. "She's overwhelmed- getting lots of denials."
So does the mostly bump-free ride mean that most folks have learned their codes and all is well? Maybe not. Tammie Olson of Management Resource Group, a firm offering financial management and support services for the healthcare community, is a little nervous about the good reports. "Don't let looks deceive you," she said. "It's going smoothly only because payers are allowing it to. Many providers are cheating right now. Some are still using their old encounters and just cross-walking the codes. That defeats the whole purpose of ICD-10. When the payers decide that practices have had enough time to transition, the payment crunch will be full on."
Tennant indicated something similar. "Humana and United both said at the town hall meeting that they had adopted a liberal approach to specificity as long as the codes made sense. Then they will begin outreach to move gradually toward more specific claims." The learning curve might not be steep, but it is coming. Just like the repeated delays gave many practices a false sense that they had unlimited time to prepare, this easing in to the specificity might be giving some practices the sense that they really don't have to understand and properly use the new codes.


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Contemporary Iranian Cinema
A Spaced-Out July
High and Low: From Pulp to Poetry
Fly Me to the Moon: Apollo 11's 50th Anniversary
The Cinematheque Poster Sale
Seven Women, Seven Sins
Suburban Birds
Jean-Pierre Melville: Master of French Noir
Lu Over the Wall
17th Vancouver Latin American Film Festival
Recent Screenings
Touki bouki
Skip Blumberg: Culture Beat (micro-retrospective)
Segunda vez
National Indigenous Peoples Day
Frames of Mind
Tales from the Winnipeg Film Group
Home » Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex, Fashion & Disco
Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex, Fashion & Disco
USA	2017.	Dir: James Crump. 95 min. DCP
"Electrifying ... A heady mix of glamour, fashion, and disco that's impossible to resist."
LAURE BONVILLE, LONDON FILM FESTIVAL
VANCOUVER PREMIERE! EXCLUSIVE FIRST RUN! Grace Jones. Jessica Lange. Karl Lagerfeld. Tina Chow. Pat Cleveland. Jerry Hall. Andy Warhol. Bill Cunningham. Grace Coddington. Patti D'Arbanville. Yves Saint Laurent. All were part of the inner circle of Puerto Rico-born, Bronx-raised Antonio Lopez (1943-1987), a fashion illustrator and trendsetter whose groundbreaking work and magnetic presence energized the New York and Paris fashion scenes in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Lopez's vibrant drawings — for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, and other publications — injected street smarts and racial/ethnic diversity into a staid industry. He is credited with discovering some of the era's iconic faces, including Jones, Lange, Chow, and Hall. He was a seductive presence in every sense of the word. Tailor-made from fabulous archival footage and affecting contemporary interviews, James Crump's hugely entertaining documentary vividly captures an influential talent and his near-mythical milieu, a glamourous world of high style, decadent nightlife, and radical social, cultural, and sexual transformation.
ANNUAL $3 MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED FOR THOSE 18+
"Dazzling ... Crump's film isn't just fun to watch, its an essential reminder of an artist and innovator who has been largely forgotten."
Interview | full review
SHOWTIMES - click for screening and ticket options
Saturday, October 20, 2018 - 2:00pm
Experience Essential Drama


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The Science of Tools for Thought and Cognition Augmentation Software
For millions of years, humans have used tools to augment their evolutionary abilities. A few thousand years ago, we invented writing and thereby enabled the sharing and externalizing of information, ushering in the bronze age. A few decades ago, we created the computer and computer networks, inaugurating the information age. This new tool drastically expanded our abilities to share, internalize and work with knowledge.
Tools that augment our cognitive abilities aided by computers are still in their infancy and will have a massive influence on the ages to come. This article aims to give an overview of the progress and state of Cognition Augmentation Software. I'll start with creating a more precise terminology for it and its adjacent concepts.
Tools For Thought Terminology
Standards, norms, terminology, and tractable definitions have guided many advancements in science and technology. However, the term Tools For Thought, which we use to describe software products like RemNote or Roam Research, is not clearly defined. To advance this field, we need a shared terminology and understanding of the space.
In their outstanding work, How can we develop transformative Tools For Thought? Michael Nielsen and Andy Matuschak describe the history of the term. The first usage of it, they explain, goes back to the early computer pioneers. A problem with this term is that it does not differentiate between cognitive, e.g., cultural-evolutionary tools (like number theory) and software tools, for example, note-taking apps.
Thinking and Thoughts are also not clearly defined, which makes the use of this term even harder. I will use the term Cognition Augmentation Software, or simply CAS, to describe software that augments our cognition.
Augmented Cognition
As World War II mercifully drew to a close, Vannevar Bush, President Truman's Director of Scientific Research and initiator of the Manhattan Project, surveyed the post-war landscape. He laid out what he viewed as the most important forthcoming challenges to humankind. In 1945, he published his seminal work As We May Think, which aimed to set the stage for the post-WW2 allocation of scientific efforts towards understanding rather than destruction and described his concept of the memex, a hypothetical memory augmentation device.
The research of this field goes back to the 1960s and the pioneering work of Douglas C. Engelbart, who was highly influenced by Bush's work. He viewed the process of Augmenting Human Intellect as increasing the capability to solve complex problems by information handling and symbol structuring to gain comprehension. The vision developed by Engelbart, J. C. R. Licklider, Alan Kay, and others had a strong influence on later entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs.
In the next decades, HCI made incredible leaps include interface advances such as Smalltalk, HyperCard, or WYSIWYG editors. A paper from 1998 lays out some of the most impactful innovations and their development timelines:
A formal sub-field was finally formed in early 2000 under the name of Augmented Cognition and instituted by the Augmented Cognition Program, which was renamed to Improving Warfighter Information Intake Under Stress Program in 2001. The program was separated into four phases:
Measure cognitive state
Manipulate cognitive state
Exploit human sensory channels
Optimize information allocation
The research field today relies heavily on the terminology of Cognitive Load Theory. A big focus of the domain is to reduce Cognitive Overload. One way to do this is by developing schemas that act as memory templates. A schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information. Schemas can be useful because they allow us to take shortcuts in interpreting the vast amount of information that is available in our environment. For example, a child might learn to classify a bird by noting that it is a creature with a muzzle and two wings. A more tangible example might be learning the mathematical notations of a new field. In the beginning, the symbols are foreign to us, but after a while, we build up a mental (and implicit i.e. uninspectable) model of their function.
Schemas are coded into long term memory by working memory. If working memory is overloaded, its schema-building ability is compromised.
If we help someone to create new or surface relevant schemas by, for example, showing them a possible visualization of a mathematical operation, we support their schema-building abilities and reduce their Cognitive Load.
Cognitive State measurement
As we saw in the list of phases of the Augmented Cognition Program, a great deal of research focuses on how to "Measure cognitive state." There are many possible applications of adjusting information presentation to the user's cognitive abilities and background knowledge. For example, one could auto-control an audiobook's playback speed based on the listener's measured cognitive load (request for startup).
Distributed Cognition and Social Computing
A second valuable and related framework is Distributed Cognition. It defines cognitive processes by the functional relationship among elements that participate in them and not by its elements' spatial colocation. I.e., a distributed cognitive process can be managed by multiple components that each serve a specific function but are located in different places communicating over a network.
It also provides us with a framework to think about Collaborative Cognition, a system in which multiple intelligent agents collaboratively work on a problem. An example of such a collaboration is a decision process to which multiple humans and machines contribute.
This new and emergent field was termed Social Computing by James Evans in September 2020. He describes it as the combination of socially inspired computer science and computationally enhanced social science. In this framing, machines act as complements rather than substitutes for human cognition. Social Computing aims to engineer systems for new social interaction between humans and machines that allow us to communicate more effectively by taking into account human biases.
We will look at cloud architectures that describe the combination of cognitive modules for augmentation interfaces later.
Personal Knowledge Management
Personal knowledge management (PKM) is one way to augment cognition, namely by helping someone extend their memory. By helping us manage and externalize our knowledge, these systems enable us to work with a more extensive knowledge base. The most comprehensive description and analysis of PKMs and related concepts I've found was the article Still Building the Memex by Stephen Davies, professor in the Computer Science department at the University of Mary Washington.
PKM systems are often called Second Brains. Still, most of them act more as a storage medium and replica of its user's actual body of knowledge. At RemNote, we try not just to help you create a copy of your knowledge but an extension and augmentation of your brain.
New types of augmenting devices and interfaces
Cognitive Technology, GANs, and GPT-3
In 2016, Michael Nielsen, in his essay Thought as a Technology, described the term cognitive technology as an external artifact designed by humans, which can be internalized and used as a substrate for cognition. These are representations invented by other people, such as words, graphs, maps, algebra, mathematical diagrams, etc. He further differentiated between Models of Augmentation as Cognitive Transformation (e.g., a spreadsheet) or Cognitive Outsourcing (e.g., a calculator).
A year later, in a paper titled, Using Artificial Intelligence to Augment Human Intelligence, he and his colleague Shan Carter expanded the concept. They differentiate between Cognitive technology using Computers and Cognitive technology using Artificial Intelligence. The latter is expanding human thought itself, meaning the computer-performed action becomes a new generalizable concept. An example they give is the concept of applying a stamp in Photoshop to another layer. This concept is generalized as computer, [new type of action] this [new type of representation for a newly imagined class of object].
Cognitive technology using Artificial Intelligence discovers and reveals deep principles in ways meaningful to the user and helps us invent new cognitive technologies. The example they give here is an Interactive Generative Adversarial Model (iGAN). It can, for example, show a typographer novel operation as new primitives that he can then learn and apply in future designs without using the iGAN. In the context of a designer, these new primitives are what we call design patterns.
How this process can look like is demonstrated in a video by the AI researcher Károly Zsolnai-Fehér, in which he also describes it as the artistic control over images.
Another fascinating technology in this category is GPT-3, an autoregressive language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text. We saw commercially successful use of this model in copywriting (ex. copysmith.ai) and code completion (ex. GitHub Copilot). But besides software code, there has been little commercialization of text completion. Thus, I hope somebody builts a ubiquitous text completions browser extension (pls. lmk if you do).
GPT-3 can not only be used to outsource cognitive tasks, but it can generate entirely new ideas. David Dohan, Research Engineer at Google Brain, demonstrates the power of using this model for idea generation in a recent Athens community talk.
Although the descriptions of the two terms, provided by Nielsen and Carter, still come with less clearly defined terms of "deep principles," "in a meaningful way," and "human thought," they help us draw a further categorization. For our purpose here and using our terminology, I'll summarize them as the distinction between CAS and CAAI, Cognitive Augmentation AI.
It's still early for software tools like those iGANs explored above. Still, we can already see that Offering predefined elements (shapes, text, symbols) directly exemplifies how a digital tool can augment human intelligence by allowing the user to get into the creative flow faster and minimize unnecessary construction work, as Molly Mielke phrased it in her thesis Computers and Creativity.
Memory and Knowledge Augmentation
In the before-mentioned seminal essay, Bush describes the personal knowledge management abilities of the Memex.
It, for example, should be able to retrieve and reproduce items many years old. He also describes its sharing features as "Wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready-made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the Memex and there amplified. The lawyer has at his touch the associated opinions and decisions of his whole experience, and of the experience of friends and authorities. …"
But in all those years, there has not been actual scientific work to engineer a cognition augmenting device as he describes it. However, this changed recently. In June 2019, the two researchers, Mahadev Satyanarayanan and Nigel Davies published a paper Augmenting Cognition Through Edge Computing, describing such a system's possible architecture.
It might, for example, help users restore context before their next conference or class. While walking to a lecture, the student could be primed with a lecture overview through his smart glasses, surfacing relevant information. The description of the "Memory vault" in this architecture exhibits a high similarity to Vannevar Bush's Memex.
But have people started building such applications?
Recent leaks about the startup Hu.ma.ne hinted that they are building a contextual recall memory device in the form of a lapel pin. However, the thrill remains since the job listings on LinkedIn also listed a BCI engineer, and they stated that it would have the same kind of impact as the iPhone.
The more intriguing and already usable product in this realm under development might be personal.ai (formerly hu.man.ai). Its founder Suman Kanuganti and his colleagues are building a personal ai for memory storage. More precisely, they state that the product will safekeep the thoughts and memories that define you with your personal AI secured by a blockchain. A very compelling value proposition, I think. This product is an excellent example of memory augmentation using Artificial Intelligence.
Personal AI's Head of Design, Kristie Kaiser, also describes the application of Ambient Computing concepts as part of their product. Ambient Computing is a user experience that is seamlessly integrated into the flow of the users' life, and that requires no conscious action. They also produced this very moving teaser video
Another example of memory augmentation is RemNote. It's a tool for networked note-taking with a seamlessly integrated spaced repetition system (SRS). Currently, the offered spaced repetition algorithms are deterministic and don't incorporate any AI. Other SRS software products already showed the successful application of Machine learning to memory augmentation.
AR Interfaces leverage the outstanding visual perception that human evolution created, e.g., our cognitive processing speed of visuospatial data. This superiority is why we can predict that they will be the next paradigm of Human-computer interfaces. Those interfaces will give rise to many new ways of interacting with computation and new types of media. The advances in UX design show that interactions with digital interfaces become ever more natural and intuitive.
What do we mean by intuitive here? An example of such an advancement in the development of the macintosh. Engineers and designers reduced the mouse interface's cognitive load by removing the second button and utilizing existing mental models. This design decision was brought forth by a memo titled 'One-Button Mouse' by the legendary Apple HCI scientist Larry Tesler (as explained in more detail in the book Insanely great).
Following the doctrine of Build Glasses, not Binoculars (Albrecht Schmidt 2019), we can envision AR Interfaces. Those will allow us to navigate a three-dimensional multimedia environment by intuitive hand gestures rather than positioning a mouse on a desk.
Cognition Augmentation Software for Learning
When augmenting cognitive processes, the most useful application is to look for the most cognitively taxing tasks, with learning being one of them.
In Life 3.0, Max Tegmark describes a fictional AI, Prometheus, that helps humans learn:
"Given any person's knowledge and abilities, Prometheus could determine the fastest way for them to learn any new subject in a manner that kept them highly engaged and motivated to continue and produce the corresponding optimized videos, reading materials, exercises, and other learning tools. […] by leveraging Prometheus' movie-making talents, the video segments would truly engage, providing powerful metaphors that you would relate to, leaving you craving to learn more."
Intelligent Tutoring Systems
What Tegmark describes is called an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). Such a computer system provides immediate and customized instruction or feedback to learners, usually without requiring intervention from a human teacher. The first widely used product of this kind was PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations). It was started in 1960 at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and funded by the ARPA, the same institutions that also funded ARPANET, the precursor of today's Internet. The system proved beneficial for many students, especially those with learning disabilities, as they surmounted the classroom's social peer pressure, Brian Dear explains in a talk held at Google. Its commercialization NovaNET shut down after its acquisition in the early 2000s.
The popular website Kahn Academy implements a more straightforward and older model called CAI (computer-assisted instruction).
The most successful product might be ALEKS (bought by McGraw-Hill). It implements Knowledge Space Theory, a stochastic framework for the assessment of knowledge. It was developed by ALEKS' founder Dr. Jean-Claude Falmagne, a mathematical psychologist whose scientific contributions deal with problems in reaction time theory, psychophysics, philosophy of science, measurement theory, decision theory, and educational technology dev. Students using ALEKS navigates a graph of possible knowledge states, i.e., a learning space.
But what Tegmark describes is not a normal ITS. It is a very advanced ITS that can customize, generate tutoring content for its user and generalize to new fields. Unlike ALEKS, which is limited to predefined domains and content.
We can be optimistic that, given this technical feasibility and the fast advancements in fields such as reinforcement learning (a subfield of Machine Learning that focuses on learning agents), we will see the first more generally intelligent, Prometheus-like tutoring systems in the coming decades. Those will function in a more adaptable way taking into account the students' cognitive state, personal preferences, and psychological profile.
Outlook, Market, and Trends
Summarizing, we can draw the following distinction between tools for thought and CAS and some of its subareas:
For many decades we have been removing points of friction that bottleneck our cognitive capabilities. A Google search that does not fall below our 250 millisecond limit of perceivable time differences will always feel too slow while waiting to absorb the information we searched for.
The introduction of the typewriter and computer removed the major bottleneck of handwriting for externalizing our thoughts. In his book Smarter Than You Think, Clive Thompson cites the research of the Stanford University literary scholar Andrea Lunsford, that examined freshman entry essays from 1917 until the present. Lunsford found that while grammatical error rates have stayed the same, the length and complexity of the essays have dramatically increased. "It's not that the kids of 1917 were stupider," says Thompson.1 "It's just that their tools were getting in the way of their thought."
One can only surmise what the next hundred years will do to internalize and externalize information using software tools. Three major technology standards influence the future of these tools and their accelerated development:
superior sensing and capturing systems (e.g., the possibility of continuous collection of memory cues through life-logging)
advances in audio and image processing enabling widespread mining of stored cues for proactive presentation
pervasiveness of displays for displaying memory cues
In their essay, Michael Nielsen and Andy Matuschak describe the difficulty for developers of Tools For Thought to prevent copy-cats. They give the examples of Adobe, which invested heavily in developing their products and is now copied or disrupted by cloud-based companies like Figma. Considering the economic drivers discussed, one can be optimistic that future CAS that leverages proprietary AI and AR technology will have fewer of those difficulties.
As mentioned, many innovations we take for granted today originated out of AC and HCI research. However, to date, most of the research is intended for and was funded by military and defense agencies (Drexler et al. 2007). This narrow focus might leave open a huge opportunity and an unaddressed consumer market of a growing number of knowledge workers. After all, the technologies developed as part of the research share the same goal of productivity improvements as the $102.98 Billion productivity software market.
RemNote
We can describe RemNote as CAS. Its integrated Spaced Repetition System (SRS) acts as a memory augmentation by exploiting the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve. Its referencing feature is a Cognitive Augmentation Software that lets its user reference concepts and construct new ones using other concepts as building blocks. Future features like Entity recognition or ML-based SRS would be categorized as CAIS.
If you are building or researching CAS or CAIS, I would be happy to have a chat! Lastly, if you are a talented engineer, designer, or operator interested in working on cutting-edge productivity and learning software; We are hiring at RemNote and would love to hear from you!
Thanks to Andy Matuschak, Adam Wiggins, Linus Lee, Paul Bricman, Noah Tren, and David Dohan for reading drafts of this and providing useful feedback!
Join the discussion here:
The current use of "Tool for Thought" leads to confusion!
To advance the field, we need a shared understanding/terminology (PKM, Memex, AI, ..)
Marking my bday, I'm finally posting "The Science of Tools for Thought and Cognition Augmentation Software" 🔬https://t.co/ToeBt2TRpb
— Moritz Wallawitsch (@MoritzW42) December 13, 2021
← Reading, its augmentation, and Reading while listening (RWL)


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Carpio kan syfta på följande platser:

Spanien

 Carpio (kommunhuvudort), Kastilien och Leon, Provincia de Valladolid,
 Carpio (kommun i Spanien, Andalusien), Province of Córdoba,
 Carpio (kommun i Spanien, Kastilien och Leon, Provincia de Valladolid, lat 41,22, long -5,11),

USA

 Carpio (ort), North Dakota, Ward County,

Robotskapade Spanienförgreningar
Robotskapade USAförgreningar

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


After a long break from riding I finally got back in the saddle. Decided to explore the northwest area - the region beyond Hessarghatta.
There is a small trail / mud road that crosses the railway lines near Tharabanahalli on Hessarghatta main road.Found a nice loop to Gollahalli then back via Hessarghatta, totalling 60KM, IISc to IISc.
A quick stop for some rest under a shady tree. At right is the other 'broken bridge'. Interestingly, there are two bridges in the vicinity that seem to be permanently damaged.


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Francis Gilbert, Francis Gilbert`s Working The System - How To Get The Very Best State Education For Your Child is published by Short Books. http://www.francisgilbert.co.uk
Phil Beadle is a legend. His appearance in Channel 4`s The Unteachables was one of the iconic moments of television during the Noughties: his Kung-Fu Punctuation exercises and teaching Macbeth to the cows not only showed the public that difficult subjects could be made fun and easily accessible for the most challenging pupils, but also that great teaching can make a real difference. His new book develops many of the ideas and techniques that he revealed so entertainingly in the TV show. As he says himself, it is not a survival guide but the hard-won wisdom of a practising teacher who confronts the reality of the classroom still. This book is packed full of practical advice from someone who has to deal with pupils chewing gum, eating crisps, not listening, drifting off task, and generally getting up to no good on a daily basis. The solutions he offers are both imaginative, sensible and, above all, WORKABLE. Even though I`ve been teaching for twenty years, I found huge chunks of this book really useful. Even when I disagreed with him - there`s a brilliant but controversial section on ICT in the book - I felt that I had to modify my teaching in the light of what he said. The advice isn`t comforting, it`s more of a wake-up call to the whole profession. To be honest, every teacher should read and act upon this book because there`s a gem on nearly every page.


"Hello, my name is Shauna. I have 2 years of classroom teaching experience in elementary and high school, and I truly enjoy seeing my students learn and understand new subject matter. That "lightbulb" moment is wonderful, and I will work hard to make that happen for you as a tutor! I am also fluently bilingual in English/Spanish, and will be happy to teach in either language as needed. I am comfortable teaching at any level, elementary through graduate school. For parents, I have three childr"


Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and at Mylar & Loreta's Restaurant, we love celebrating the day of love! Whether you're single or paired off, Valentine's Day is a good excuse to focus on the people you love, even if the day doesn't involve long-stemmed red roses and gourmet chocolates. Here are just a few ideas to enjoy the day for friends, couples, and singles.
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Make a New Memory—Valentine's Day can be rough. Instead of dwelling in the past come February 14th, use the day to do something for yourself that you've been itching to try, whether you go on an outdoor adventure or stay at home with a warm fire and a good book. Whatever you do, make sure you finish off your day with a homecooked meal!


Low lymphocyte count, also known as lymphocytopenia, is a cause for concern because when lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) are low, the body's ability to repel infections is weakened.. Low lymphocyte count (lymphocytopenia) could indicate that you are at greater risk of developing infections because your lymphocytes are low. lymphocytes are a type of white blood cells and they are essential to kill off bacteria and viruses and prevent infections from getting worse.. Rbc (red blood cell count). this is the number of red blood cells you have. these are important because they carry oxygen through your body. they also help filter carbon dioxide. if your rbc count is too low, you may have anemia or another condition. (if you have anemia, your blood has fewer red blood cells than normal.) the normal range for men is 5 million to 6 million cells/mcl; for women it's 4 million to 5 million cells/mcl..
In general, lymphocytopenia (a low lymphocyte count) occurs because: the body doesn't make enough lymphocytes. the body makes enough lymphocytes, but they're destroyed. the lymphocytes get stuck in the spleen or lymph nodes. a combination of these factors also may cause a low lymphocyte count.. Understand low red blood bell count and its causes. learn how cancer can cause a low red blood cell count and what treatments can cause red blood cell counts to drop.. Lymphocytes – normal range, high, low – by admin 0 . contents. 1 what are lymphocytes ? 2 normal lymphocyte count in blood; 3 high lymphocyte count 4 low lymphocyte count in blood; 5 treatment of abnormal lymphocytes count; what are lymphocytes ? lymphocytes refer to a kind of white blood cells that can be found in the blood of a human body. all of us are aware of the importance of white.
Low white blood cell count and low lymphocytes – i have low white blood cell count, low lymphs, low lymphocytes absolute, what can it mean? many things. a low lymphocyte count can be associated with various causes. it can be congenital, as part of immune deficiency. it can be related to viral illness and other infections. it can be due to treatment with prednisone and other immunosuppressive. What is the normal range of lymphocyte count. white blood cells in the human body are designed to defend the organism from external attacks. when leukocytes are low the patient is…. Significance of low lymphocyte (lymphocytopenia) and high lymphocyte counts (lymphocytosis) on blood tests: easy to understand entry on this type of white blood cell. medfriendly ® lymphocyte (low and high levels) a lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell present in the blood. white blood cells help protect the body against diseases and . fight infections. when the general defense systems of.
What is the normal range of lymphocyte count. white blood cells in the human body are designed to defend the organism from external attacks. when leukocytes are low the patient is…. Low lymphocyte count (lymphocytopenia) could indicate that you are at greater risk of developing infections because your lymphocytes are low. lymphocytes are a type of white blood cells and they are essential to kill off bacteria and viruses and prevent infections from getting worse.. Lymphocytes – normal range, high, low – by admin 0 . contents. 1 what are lymphocytes ? 2 normal lymphocyte count in blood; 3 high lymphocyte count 4 low lymphocyte count in blood; 5 treatment of abnormal lymphocytes count; what are lymphocytes ? lymphocytes refer to a kind of white blood cells that can be found in the blood of a human body. all of us are aware of the importance of white.


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Why Obama Is The 2012 Favorite
Mark Murray reads the latest WSJ/NBC poll and concludes that President Obama is in pretty strong shape:
Despite all the bad news the White House has endured over the past several months -- an unemployment rate near 10%, the BP spill, the midterm results -- the president's standing has remained steady. His job-approval rating stands at 45% (which isn't far off from where it was a year ago, when it was 47%); his economic handling is at 42% (same as it was a year ago); and 72% say they like Obama personally, even if they don't like his policies. What's more, in potential 2012 match-ups, he bests Romney by seven points (47%-40%), Palin by 22 points (55%-33%), and a relatively generic candidate like John Thune by 20 points (47%-27%). Of course, Thune and Romney both hold him under 50%.
In an accompanying article he has some pollster quotes:
"This is a president who retains very strong numbers with a political core constituency," said GOP pollster Bill McInturff, referring to Obama's strong standing among African-Americans (87 percent overall approval), Democrats (76 percent), Latinos (53 percent) and younger votes.
"It is really important not to lose track of his retained strength."
Obviously, we're two years away from Obama's reelection, so the events of the next two years matter a lot. But the situation looks fairly promising for Obama at the moment. The bad economy has taken a toll on his approval ratings, but he looks as if he's hit a floor, and the floor isn't all that low. Polls consistently show that people like him personally and side with him against the Republicans -- this is paradoxically true even in an environment where the public sided strongly with the GOP in the midterm elections. Barring a double-dip recession, he's well-positioned to win a head-to-head matchup against a Republican in 2012.
Jonathan Chait, NBC, John Thune, Bill McInturff, White House, Mark Murray


From thrilling theme parks to world-class beaches - it's time to fill up that photo album with snaps of your California adventure.
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